After The War
by Essteka
Summary: Obito Uchiha has been defeated, bringing an end to the war. As everyone rejoices, Naruto has his mind on something in particular… One-shot. Story hopefully better than summary.


This is an idea for a Naruto one-shot that's been on my mind for months. I kept thinking about it at least once every day. After a while, though, I just had to get it out of my mind, so I decided to finally work on it.

Basically, this one-shot is pretty much my own idea of what could possibly happen at the end of the current war arc in the manga. Just about every other Naruto fan has their own idea of what's going to happen after the war is over. Well, here's my personal take on it.

Oh, and just in case anyone is reading this years later, the most recent chapter in the manga to be published as of this writing was the 650th one. Anyway, here it goes.

**After The War**

"...Ka... Kakashi..."

Obito Uchiha, the one responsible for this war, the one who caused several people to suffer... was lying on the ground. Blood was covering his arms, as he was about to do his last breath. Next to Obito, his former friend, Kakashi Hatake, crouched down to listen what he had to say. Standing up next to them, there were Naruto Uzumaki, Might Guy, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Minato Namikaze. All of them were tired after all the fighting they just went through. Sasuke was feeling pain in his legs and had Sakura to help support him. Minato was still missing an arm while Guy had a black eye. As for Naruto, he had some bruises here and there, but the Kyuubi's chakra was helping him to feel better.

"Obito..." the grey-haired ninja said.

"Kakashi... After... all this time... I'm gonna... see Rin again..."

At this moment, Obito's mouth stopped moving forever as his soul left his body to go to the afterlife. Kakashi sighed before spending a long moment looking at the body of the one who used to be his friend. At the same time, Guy was concerned about his friendly rival.

"Kakashi... you're gonna be alright?" the green jumpsuit-wearing ninja asked.

The grey-haired ninja closed his eyes for a moment before finally answering.

"The Obito I used to know died long before today." Kakashi said while Guy listened carefully. "It's never easy to deal with death, no matter who the person was. But... I'll be alright."

"So... Does that mean...?" Naruto asked.

"Unless something goes wrong... It's over."

It ended. It finally ended. After what seemed like an eternity, the Great Shinobi War was over.

Guy smirked in relief before turning around and looking at the hundreds of shinobi around them. He noticed his student, Rock Lee, and gave him a thumbs-up. Lee smiled widely at that, as he knew what his sensei meant by that.

"The war is over! We won!" he exclaimed in excitement.

Gradually, the message was spread to all the shinobi. And gradually, they rejoiced into knowing this intense event was done. Some of them embraced each other in relief, while others high-fived to each other. Choji Akimichi grabbed both Shikamaru Nara and Ino Yamanaka and gave them one big hug.

"We did it, guys! We finally did it!" Choji exclaimed.

Shikamaru and Ino both smiled before looking at each other. They both thought about their fathers dying during the war. The pain of losing them was still there, but they knew their fathers would be proud of them.

Meanwhile, Kiba Inuzuka was tackled on the ground by his dog, Akamaru. The latter affectionately licked his face to celebrate their victory.

"Enough, Akamaru! That tickles!" Kiba exclaimed as he couldn't stop laughing.

Hinata Hyuga giggled at that while Shino Aburame simply sighed in relief.

Rock Lee looked sad as he thought about the death of Neji Hyuga, his closest friend. Soon enough, Tenten came nearby and put her hand on his shoulder, causing Lee to look at her.

"I miss him too." She said.

The ninja with big eyebrows hugged Tenten, who hugged him back as they comforted each other. Guy came next to them and put his hands on their shoulders. He knew they would have a hard time continuing to live on after the death of their teammates, but he also knew they had the strength to continue as well.

Back with Kakashi, Sasuke looked at Sakura and Naruto before thinking about what he wanted to say next.

"Sakura... Naruto..." he said, getting the attention of the other members of Team 7. "I know I've caused pain to both of you and I've given you nothing but trouble. I would completely understand if you decide to not forgive me after everything I've done. All I can say is... I'm sorry."

Naruto and Sakura looked at Sasuke. For a moment, they seemed like they were unsure how to respond. Then, the blond-haired ninja came closer to the black-haired one, looking at him face-to-face.

"Call me a moronic optimist, but... I believe in second chance. It's gonna take a while for you to get everyone's trust, I'm sure of that. But... there's always a first step to everything, so..." he said before raising his fist in order to do a fist bump.

Sasuke smirked at that.

"_I can't believe I'm about to do something like that._" He thought before bumping his fist with Naruto's.

"Just don't think you have a chance of becoming Hokage before me, Sasuke." The blond-haired ninja said, smirking.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, even though he had to admit Naruto was right. The black-haired ninja then turned to the pink-haired one. The latter was frowning at him.

"Do you have any idea how much pain you've given to my heart?" she asked.

Naruto looked concerned, not liking where Sakura was going, even though she had all the rights to do it.

"I understand." The black-haired ninja said, looking a bit ashamed.

"However... Much like Naruto, I also believe in second chance." She said, sighing. "I'm giving you one, but don't make me regret this decision." Sakura said, still frowning at him.

"That's all I'm asking for. I'll make sure you won't regret it."

"You better be."

Naruto smiled at that. The war is over, and both Sakura and himself made peace with Sasuke. He had fewer things to worry about now.

Suddenly, he thought about something else. His eyes widened as he looked around, searching for someone. Several seconds later, Naruto found the one person he was looking for and ran after that person.

Meanwhile, Hinata petted Akamaru, while the latter was still licking Kiba's face. Suddenly, she heard something and looked up. The dark blue-haired ninja noticed Naruto running towards someone. She looked at him curiously.

"_What is Naruto-kun doing?_" she wondered.

The blond-haired ninja pushed several ninjas that were on his way, apologizing to each of them for that. Finally, he stopped as he caught his breath. He then looked at the one person he was looking for standing next to him.

Hinata was surprised to realize SHE was the one Naruto was looking for. She slightly blushed as the blond-haired ninja was standing right next to her, looking at her eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun..." she said, a bit nervous.

At this moment, the blond-haired ninja was remembering several past events that involved Hinata in one way or another. There was that time where she offered to give him the answers on the first test of the Chuunin exams. Then, there was that time she offered him some lotion after his fight against Kiba, which was followed by her fight against Neji. She managed to truly impress Naruto that day, even though she lost against her cousin. He vowed to make him pay for what he did to her. He remembered when he was feeling down before his own fight against her cousin and she managed to cheer him up by telling him how strong he was to learn from his mistakes.

Naruto also remembered when he came back to Konoha after training with Jiraya and how much she had changed from a few years earlier. Soon after, he remembered THAT ONE unforgettable moment. It was when he was fighting Pain and the latter was about to finish him off. All of sudden, Hinata had come to protect Naruto from Pain. Despite the blond-haired ninja yelling at her to flee right away, she refused to let him suffer at the hands of Pain... because she loved him. That confession of hers was one thing Naruto never expected to ever happen. He was speechless to find out she had feelings for him. Hell, just the idea of someone saying those three particular words to him was enough to make him speechless. He remembered how horrified he was when Pain seemed to have killed her, so much so that he turned into the Kyuubi to let out all that rage inside of him. Naruto was filled with so much relief when he later learned that she was alive.

Then, there was that time during the war where one of his clones came to save her and reassured her she was strong, despite her thinking the opposite. And eventually, came the moment where all the shinobi came to help Naruto deal with Obito. Unfortunately, several people died during this, including Neji. His death was a painful blow to both Naruto and Hinata. Just when the blond-haired ninja seemed like he was about to give up, the dark-blue haired girl knocked some sense out of him. She made him realized that everyone was connected in one way or another and that she also shared his nindo of never going back on one's words. She gave him enough confidence to continue the fight, along with everyone else.

Hinata was always there for him, even when he wasn't aware of her presence. She was always showing him her support...

She always loved him.

Soon enough, Naruto realized he never really responded to her confession. The more he thought about all these events, and the more he thought about Hinata herself, the more he felt attracted to her. He didn't know if it was true love, but he wanted to at least find out. Who knows? Maybe he can reciprocate those feelings she has for him.

"_Oh, man... What the hell am I supposed to say to her?_" Naruto thought, having no idea what to do. He took a moment to think about it and knew one thing he could do. "_Okay... This time, I'm gonna listen to my heart instead of my mind..._"

The blond-haired ninja sighed before looking back at Hinata.

"Neji would have been proud of you. I'm sure he is proud, wherever he is right now."

Tears appeared from Hinata's eyes as she thought about her dead cousin. She wiped the tears away with her hands.

"Yes. He's probably proud of us." She said, slightly smiling.

Gently, Naruto grabbed Hinata's hands, holding them in his. The dark-blue haired ninja looked at the blond-haired one. The latter was looking at her directly in the eyes, as if like he was trying to say something.

"Hinata..." he said, examining her face and seeing how her face was pretty, despite the amount of dirt she had on it because of the war.

Not sure if it was the right thing to do, but doing it anyway because that's what his heart told him to do, Naruto leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, kissing her. While his eyes were closed, Hinata's widened as she couldn't believe what was happening at that moment. The Hyuga girl was blushing so much during that kiss.

Gradually, she closed her eyes, removed her hands from the spiky-haired boy's, and put them behind his neck. Naruto then put his hands around her waist before lifting her above the ground. The two of them forgot about the people around them as they only thought about each other.

For Naruto, what he was feeling during that kiss was quite unlike anything he ever felt. There was something about that moment that made him want to have it last forever. Perhaps it was the fact the person he was sharing that kiss with truly loved him with all her heart. Maybe it was also because he found himself attracted to Hinata's personality. A kind, sweet, and gentle person, who also happened to be strong, determined, and smart... Someone who would never give up... Whatever the reason was for that, the blond-haired ninja would never want to forget that kiss, filled with passion.

As for Hinata, she had to admit she wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. The boy she loved ever since she was just a little girl was actually kissing him. It was no dream at all. This was for real. She always wanted to get Naruto's attention, despite her shyness. She was aware of his attraction to Sakura, but that didn't stop her from always supporting him nonetheless. He may have been a loudmouthed, hyperactive moron, but he was also strong, brave, able to go through any situation, and always dedicated to his friends. He was her sunshine in a rainy day...

After a long while, they stopped kissing as Naruto lowered Hinata until her feet reached the ground. The two of them looked at each other. The blond-haired ninja was grinning, while the dark blue-haired one had tears of joy.

"Naruto-kun..." she said before resting her head against his chest, smiling for a good reason.

The spiky-haired teenager embraced Hinata, resting his head on top of hers. He tightly held onto her as he relaxed, just being with her.

A lot of people on the battlefield witnessed that moment. Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyuga, for once, smiled at the sight of that.

"_Hinata, I've never seen you so happy like that. You deserve it more than anyone else._" Hiashi thought.

"I knew it!" Kiba proudly exclaimed, while Shino simply nodded.

"Oh, my God..." Ino said, slack-jawed before grinning. "It finally happened!" she exclaimed, while Shikamaru smirked.

Sakura smiled, happy to see these two finally together.

"It's so adorable." She said.

"Just per curiosity..." Sasuke began to say. "Is that the first time these two...?"

"Yep." The pink-haired ninja replied.

"It's about freaking time." He sighed.

"I was just about to say that." Kakashi said, smiling behind his mask.

Looking at his son and the Hyuga girl, Minato could only smile at that.

"_So, she's the one who managed to steal his heart, huh? I can only hope they'll be as happy together as I was with Kushina._" The Fourth Hokage thought.

All of sudden, Naruto's eyes widened as he just thought of something.

"Hum, Hinata-chan?"

The dark blue-haired girl pulled away to look at his face.

"Yeah?"

"I think there's someone I should present to you." Naruto said with a smirk.

Before she could say anything, he grabbed her in his arms and jumped away several times until they landed in front of Minato.

"Dad, let me present to you Hinata Hyuga." The blond-haired ninja said to his father. "Hinata, this is my father, the Fourth Hokage."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Hyuga." Minato said, bowing down to her.

A bit nervous at meeting the Fourth Hokage and having him bowing at her, Hinata bowed down as well.

"I-I-It is an honor to meet you, sir." She said.

The End.

* * *

That's about it. I don't think it's a perfect one-shot, but it's the best I could come up with. I have no idea how the aftermath of the war will be done in the manga, but I'm curious to see what's gonna happen. Also, I'm aware I didn't include all the characters involved in this war, like the other Kages, Madara Uchiha, the various ninjas, etc. To be honest, it's because I didn't know what to do with these other characters. I wish I knew what I should have done with them, but I wasn't inspired enough. Sorry about that. Anyway, that's all I've got to say.

Read and review!


End file.
